More and more, people are recoiling at being approached by salespeople because shoppers are more attuned to the solitary, do-it-yourself nature of pointing, clicking and waiting for the UPS truck.
What are you finding in your store? Does “Can I help you?” work anymore at all?
Sales Trainer Martin Shanker, who is quoted in the story, would call that a “greeting cliché” — one that produces the ultimate sales taboo: something you say that prompts the customer to say no.
Shanker suggests training salespeople to become comfortable with silence after an initial greeting. I’ve got to imagine that idea wouldn’t go over well with many of our sales experts here at INSTORE. But I’m more interested right now in hearing responses from the trenches. What works in your store? Are people really less receptive to salespeople than they used to be?
